The United States reacted cautiously Wednesday to a statement by Iran’s president accepting a swap of enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, saying Tehran should submit a formal offer of the deal to international authorities.

Ahmadinejad said late Tuesday that Iran was willing to send its uranium abroad in exchange for processed nuclear fuel — seemingly accepting a deal put forward by nations who fear Tehran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran would have “no problem” sending out its stocks of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to be further purified into reactor fuel for use at a research facility, Ahmadinejad said in a television interview.